Agenda and minutes

Before the discussion of this item two Ashcroft Square residents, Desi and Annette Cranenburgh, invited all Councillors to attend the National Sleep-out on 15 April between 8pm to 10:30pm, outside Hammersmith Town Hall, to highlight the impact of the Housing & Planning Bill for council and private tenants.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 7 March 2016 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

Apologies for Absence were received from Councillor Wesley Harcourt.

1.1.        That the General Fund and HRA month 9 revenue outturn forecast variance be noted.

1.2.        That all overspending departments to agree proposals/action plans for bringing spend in line with budget.

1.3.        To agree the virement totalling £1.250m (Appendix 10 of the report). This comprises £0.223m from Unallocated Contingency and £0.097m from the Private Sector (Direct Lettings) Incentive Payments Reserve; in order to fund Housing General Fund Temporary Accommodation Incentive Payments demand pressures totalling £0.320m. A transfer of £0.930m is requested from the Corporate Demands & Pressures reserve to the Managed Services Programme(MSP) reserve to fund additional costs of MSP implementation and stabilisation to end of June 2016.

1.4.        To note that departments have requested that they be allowed to carry forward budgets of £2.021m from year-end underspends.  These will be considered at the year-end, in the context of the Councils’ overall position and other priorities.

1.5.        To note that  in order to produce the final accounts to the statutory deadline of 30th June, a significant amount of activity is necessary. It is therefore proposed that decision making in relation to these issues is delegated to the Strategic Finance Director in conjunction with the Cabinet Member for Finance.

Councillor Sue Fennimore thanked officers for the considerable work done on this report setting out the key principles underpinning the Council’s work on tackling homelessness and improving services to homeless people.

Councillor Lisa Homan reinforced the benefits of having a homelessness prevention strategy in place to tackle the housing needs in finding temporary accommodation. This prevention strategy would hopefully help the Council to become the best council in the country for preventing homelessness.

RESOLVED:

That the Homelessness Prevention Strategy be adopted.

Councillor Vivienne Lukey stated that Healthy Schools was a highly successful programme already in operation and highly respected by schools and early years settings in the borough. She supported the extension and modification of the scope of the existing contract.

RESOLVED:

1          That the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health seeks Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health for each authority approval to;

·         Make the direct award

·         Amend the scope of the service specification

Each authorities governance process applies for the decision making procedure.

2          The three sovereign contracts can be terminated giving 3 months’ notice

For Hammersmith and Fulham Council Cabinet is requested:

3          To approve a waiver in accordance with paragraph 3 of the Contract Standing Orders to waive the requirement to seek tenders in accordance with paragraph 11 of the Contract Standing Orders in order to allow LBHF to extend the existing contract with HEP Ltd .

4          To approve the modification of  the existing contract to HEP Ltd as  set out in Appendix A, Table 1 to provide for an extension of the term of the contract for a period of one year plus a further one year effective from 1 April 2016. Contract value of £65,326 per annum; aggregate £130,652 over two years.

           For Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea the Cabinet Member is requested:

5          To approve a waiver of the requirement to invite competitive tenders for the service in accordance with Regulation 2.10 of the RBKC Contract Regulations. This is necessary in order to allow RBKC to make a direct award of contract to HEP Ltd;

6          To make a direct award of contract to HEP Ltd for an initial period of 1 year at £66,946 p.a. with the option to extend the contract until 31^st March 2018 at a total value for two years of £133,892.  

  For Westminster City Council:                                                                                       

7          In view of the value of the new contract being below the required threshold for a decision by Westminster’s Cabinet Member for Adults & Public Health, the decision will be delegated to the Tri-Borough Director of Adult Social Care.  The Cabinet Member for Adults & Public Health has been fully briefed on the contract award.

8          The Chief Procurement Officer  approve a waiver in accordance with section 2.2 of the  Westminster Procurement Code  to allow WCC to extend the existing contract with HEP Ltd as  listed in Appendix A, Table 1.

9          To approve the modification of the existing contract with HEP Ltd as set out in Appendix A, Table 1 to provide for an extension of the term of the contract for a period of one year plus one year effectivefrom 1^st April 2016 for a contract value of £75,136 per annum, aggregate £150,272 over two years.

Councillor Andrew Jones stated that the key allocation of S106 funds was on enhanced policing to reduce crime. This Council had placed more police on the streets than any other borough. S106 funding was also allocated to the play facilities around Fulham Reach and a range of other things that were in line with the Administration’s Manifesto, such  as the cycle hire scheme, the regeneration of high streets and the arts strategy.

RESOLVED:

That officers be authorised to spend Section 106 monies as set out in section 5 of the report.

The Key Decision List was noted.

That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the remaining items of business on the grounds that they contain information relating to the financial or business affairs of a person (including the authority)] as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

[The following is a public summary of the exempt information under S.100C (2) of the Local Government Act 1972.  Exempt minutes exist as a separate document.]

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 7 March 2016 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.